Auradon's Anguish
by Jman1000000000
Summary: Uma, the daughter of Ursula, and Carver, the son of The Witch, have joined forces to change the future of Auradon for good. Sequel to The Isle's Retribution.
1. Chapter 1

**At The Lake**

Uma heard footsteps behind her. She instantly whirled around, raising her arms. Following the motion of her arms, two tentacles of water raised from the lake, ready to strike.

"Whoa." The person behind her-a boy around her age with pale skin, short brown hair and golden eyes-said, raising his hands yieldingly. "I'm not looking for any trouble."

 _Great, now I have to wipe his memory_. Uma thought.

"You don't have to wipe my mind, I won't tell anyone about you."

Uma clenched her hands into fists, ready to command the tentacles to attack.

"Before you drown me or whatever, don't you want to hear what I have to say? I think we could help each other."

Uma lowered her arms and the water lost its shape. "This better be good." She said.

"Let's start with an introduction." The boy said, smiling in a practiced yet charming way. He gave a playful bow. "My name's Carver. What's yours?"

"Uma. Now what was this about you being able to help me?"

"I suspect you have plans to bring down the barrier around the Isle. Wouldn't that be a lot easier if you had someone inside Auradon Prep to give you information.

Uma had been avoiding eye contact by looking at her nails this whole time-a surefire way to make someone desperate to earn your attention-but now she looked him directly in the eyes. "Consider me interested. Let's talk."

"Well, I can get you into Auradon Prep-in disguise, of course-and I've got a pretty solid plan to take down the barrier...and break Mal's heart."

Uma perked up hearing that last part. "Well, please, don't keep me waiting."

"Ever hear of Queen Sif?" Carver asked with a smirk.

* * *

 **Next Month**

One of King Ben's favorite school events was the annual Welcome Ball. The student council threw the reception every year for any new freshman or transfer students. Ben had promised Audrey and Jane that he would greet all the new students. But, after two hours, his face hurt from smiling and he'd shaken so many hands his fingers felt like they were going to fall off. It was always a pleasure meeting people, but it would've been nice to have a break. But, for now, he'd greeted little more than half of the incoming students.

He turned to welcome the next person in the line before him and his jaw almost dropped. The girl in front of him looked remarkable. She was tall and thin with chestnut-colored skin, long and shiny gold hair tied in braids, dark brown eyes. She wore an extremely elaborate white dress with gold embellishments. Actually, he noticed she wore a lot of gold (it was braided into her hair, she had gold bracelets, rings, cuffs on her upper arms and a necklace with a pendant shaped like a star).

"Hello, Your Majesty," She said softly, curtsying before continuing to say, "it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Please, call me Ben." Ben said, composing himself. "And you are?"

"I'm Amelia, Princess of Aurelia, but you can call me Millie." Millie said.

 _That explains the gold_. Ben thought. Hearing the name instantly brought up memories of his father explaining the history of each of Auradon's kingdoms when he was younger. Aurelia's farms produced almost all of Auradon's produce, livestock and timber. And Queen Sif's ordeal with Rumpelstiltskin had left the entire kingdom with a mountain of gold in their vault, More, in fact, than any other territory in the nation.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Millie. Are you looking forward to studying here?"

"Of course. I spent most of my life castleschooled, so it's kind of exciting to be in a real school. Even though it may be a bit more challenging to win Prom Queen when my brother isn't my only competition."

"Yes, it may be." Ben laughed. "I hope you enjoy your school year. Auradon Prep is..."-He sighed appreciatively-"there's no place like it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." She curtsied gracefully again. "I'll see you around." She said before descending the staircase that led to the main area of the party.

Ben didn't even notice he was staring until she turned around to look at him and smiled at him.

* * *

 **At the Ball**

Mal was waiting for Ben to finish greeting the line of people in front of him, but it was obvious that he'd be occupied for at least another hour. But she didn't know what else to do considering all her friends were busy at the moment. Evie was doing a last minute fix for someone that ripped their dress. The last time Mal saw Carlos, he was going to the projection room above the auditorium to find the slideshow Jane had prepared for the end of the night. And if Mal knew Jay, he'd be dancing in the most visible part of the room. Freddie, Jordan, Allie and Lonnie were spending the night with their dates. She'd tried to help Jane and Audrey supervise to pass the time, but apparently the future queen wasn't supposed to do that kind of work. She'd even considered talking to Reggie, but he'd passed on the party in favor of pursuing his goal of watching every classic movie Auradon had to offer. Her phone was out of life already and her plans to find a charger were interrupted when she heard someone sitting down next to her.

"May I have a moment of your time? It's urgent." They said. She looked up and saw a tall boy about her age that had long gold hair, dark brown skin and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a white tuxedo with ornate gold embellishments on its trim.

"Yes, go on." Mal said. Then she remembered to smile. Even if randomly talking to strangers wasn't normal for her, in Auradon it was like a practiced ritual.

"I'm a thief. And I'm here to steal your heart." He said with a smirk.

"Wow, did you really think that would work?" Mal asked. "I'm kind of in a serious relationship right now, but, even if I wasn't, that line wouldn't do anything but make me laugh."

"I know. You're with him, right?" Mal followed his eyes to Ben, greeting a girl wearing a white and gold dress.

"Yes, I am." Mal said, a small smile lighting up her face when she looked at him. Then she turned back to the guy in front of her with a scowl. "You knew about me being in a relationship, but you still came over here with a pick-up line? Were you trying to be funny or are you just plain crazy?"

"More the former. I saw that you were alone over here and looking bored, so I thought I'd come over here and make you laugh."

"By flirting with me? How chivalrous."

"By using such a corny line."

"Oh, obviously." Mal said. "Because most normal people would just come over here and tell a joke."

"I'm not most people. And I'm certainly not normal."

"Now you're really about to make me laugh." Mal said with a smirk. "So, Mr. Not Normal, are you always so-"

"Bold? Confident? Good looking?"

"None of the above, actually. I was gonna say...-" She had to pause to find a nice way to say it _"-eccentric._ "

"Sorry. I don't usually think before I speak. Not a good quirk to have around here. Gets you in trouble sometimes." He said as he looked around the room.

"Trust me, I can totally relate." Mal said. "Sometimes, when I'm at places like this, I just wanna turn invisible so that I don't have to constantly watch every little thing I say."

"Right? There are literally entire books about the etiquette in all the kingdoms. What for? Did you know that waving hi to somebody is an insult in DunBroch."

"Yeah. I learned first hand, actually. I waved at the crowd when me and Ben's carriage got there. It was so horrible, no matter how many times I apologize, I still feel bad."

He started laughing uncontrollably for a few seconds until he was finally able to compose himself. "I'm so sorry, but that's just too funny."

Mal hit him lightly on the arm and said, "Don't laugh, it was a disaster."

"But you have to admit, in hindsight, it's kinda funny."

Mal smiled a little as she said, "Yeah, a little bit."

"Don't worry, I'm not one to judge. I've got plenty of stories where I said or did the wrong thing."

"You _so_ have to tell me one."

"Fine, I guess it's only fair considering you already shared one. So, one time in New Orleans, I..."

 **An Hour Later**

Mal hadn't even realized how long she and Mr. Not Normal had been talking until his phone buzzed. He looked at the screen and the grin fell from his face. "I gotta go, my sister needs me."

Looking up at the staircase, Mal saw that Ben had finally finished greeting everyone in line. "No problem." She said.

"It was nice talking to you. Excuse me if I don't wave goodbye, though." He said as he stood up.

"Not funny." Mal said, though the way her face lit up said otherwise. As he turned to leave, Mal said, "Wait. I didn't get your name."

"Mason." He said.

"I'll see you around, Mason." Mal said.

"See you around." Mason replied, before turning away.

* * *

 **In the Dorms**

When he knocked on the door, it was opened quickly. Millie stepped aside to let him into their room. A private suite with two bedrooms, the kind reserved for the most privileged students at the school.

"Hey, Millie." He said.

"Hey, _Mason."_ She replied, looking around the room after she closed the door. "How'd you get such a nice dorm?"

"We _are_ supposed to be the two richest students at school. And, if we had roommates, how would we ever have to time to cast spells in private?"

"True. Now, do you mind turning me back? I hate feeling this tall, it feels like I'm gonna hit my head all the time."

"Not at all." His eyes glowed gold and Millie's hair turned from black to aquamarine, her height decreased and her facial structure shifted. At the same time, Mason's hair turned white, his eyes stayed gold but stopped glowing, his muscles disappeared and he got paler and paler.

"Thank goodness." Uma said, stretching her arms as the illusion faded. "I'm finally me again."

"For the night, at least." Carver said.

"Don't remind me." She said. Then her demeanor changed. She went from carefree to captain in a second. "So, were you successful tonight?"

"I think so."

"Think?"

"I said all the right things, which isn't a surprise given my particular skillset. Mal seemed to look forward to seeing me again."

"Good. It doesn't surprise me. She always trusted people just a little too much."

"And you? How did things go with the king?"

"Perfectly. And, judging from the look on his face when he saw me, I think I made a pretty good impression."

"And with the girls?"

"Good, considering _we're totally going shopping together on Saturday_." She said, flipping her hair and imitating Audrey's valleygirl-ish way of speaking for the last part. "Trust me, soon we'll _totally be BFFs_.

"Perfect." Carver said. "Soon we'll be able to shake the entire nation."


	2. Chapter 2

**The Next Day**

"Uh oh," Uma said as she bumped into Ben. It was hard making it look like it was unintentional considering, when disguised as Millie, she was thinner than most models.

 _Seemed_. She reminded herself. Carver had reminded her many, many times that she hadn't magically turned into Millie. The knowledge required for that magic was much too advanced for either of them. But Carver was skilled enough to cast and maintain an illusion that fooled all five senses of anyone who looked at them. The feeling of looking into a mirror and knowing that her mind was playing tricks on her was almost as odd as it was smiling to Ben's face as he bent down and picked up her books for her, chivalrous as usual.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Uma said, flashing a smile as she stepped aside to avoid all the students coming out of the door behind her. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's no problem," Ben said, looking behind Uma at the classroom doors. "I'm guessing class is over."

"Yeah, it just finished," Uma said. "We didn't learn anything today. But the teacher told us we'd have to do a huge project at the end of the semester about the significance and culture of the kingdoms where we were born. It has something to do with how our own history is just as important as Auradon's. I have an extra copy of the rubric if you need it."

"Could I have it please?"

"Of course. Are you okay today? I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you look a little...tired." He had bags under her eyes and he'd missed a class. That was how Uma knew it was time to bump into him.

"I'm fine, there's just been a lot of work recently."

"I hope everything's alright, Your Majesty."

"Yes, yes, everything's...fine."

The fact that he couldn't even look her in her eyes when he said it was all the proof Uma needed to know he was a horrible liar. She put a worried look on her face as she said, "Oh no, is something wrong?"

"No, everything really is fine. There were...reports of danger in a few kingdoms, but they were only false alarms."

She pretended to be confused when she said, "False alarms?"

"Yes," Ben said. "There were bad thunderstorms in Hawaii, a mudslide in China a whirlpool in Atlantica. They all struck during the same night and all of them suddenly stopped the next morning. The only thing that's still a problem is the eels that got into the Mermaid's Grotto in Neverland."

 _What about the flood in Corona_? Uma thought. _I spend two hours raising water and they don't even notice it._

"Anyway, everything is being taken care of. It just took a while for me to sort things out, so I accidentally overslept today."

"I'm glad everything's okay. I never realized how much work being king is."

"It is, but there's nothing I can imagine that's more rewarding."

"Well, if there's ever anything I can do to help you, I'm always available. Even if you need someone to bring you your schoolwork or any help catching up."

"Thank you, Millie. I think I'll end up taking you up on that offer."

"No problem, it's-." The bell rang right in the middle of her sentence. "Well, I'd better get going before I'm late. See you later."

"Later," Ben said, waving at her with a smile as she left.

* * *

 **Later That Day**

Carver was wearing Mason's face again as he closed his locker. When the door was swung shut, Mal was revealed to be behind it.

"Hey," Mal said.

Mason waved at her with a smirk.

"Jerk," Mal said, rolling her eyes. "So, how're you enjoying regular school recently?"

"The whole waking up early every morning part isn't my thing, but I don't have any other complaints."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"You have trouble waking up early, too, Ms. Soon-To-Be-Queen?"

"Not really common to be a morning person where I'm from. And where'd you hear I was gonna be queen?"

"You do know you're the talk of the school, right? No matter where I go, I can't help but hear about...you know."

"No, I don't know. What do you hear about?"

"Every aspect of your life, pretty much. It...I don't know, it just seems rough not being able to have any privacy and space to just...live, you know? Exist."

"Eh, you get used to it," Mal said _._ The nonchalance of her tone and the shrug that accompanied the words even made it pretty convincing. But hiding things from Carver wasn't really an easy thing to do. He imagined that his mind was a fishing rod, casting a metaphorical line out into Mal's thoughts and pulling the biggest one back.

When the thought reached him, Mal's voice echoed in his head, _I just wish I could talk to someone about it without making them worry about me._

 _Interesting_. Carver thought, his mind working quickly as he schooled a warm expression on his face. "Not to get all mushy and everything, but if you ever want to talk to someone about anything...I'm a great listener."

"Uh. Thanks. I think I might take you up on that sometime."

"Cool," Carver said. He was about to say something, but the bell rang. "Guess I'll see you around."

"Bye," Mal said. She didn't know why, but she found herself watching him go until he disappeared around a corner in the hall.

* * *

 **In The Math Classroom**

It was very, very late at night when Uma finally arrived outside the classroom. She'd been held up for ten minutes after almost getting caught by the janitor. It was still hard getting used to Millie's height and not tripping on her long legs. Or the illusion of her long legs, at least. But, after waiting for him to finish his cleaning, she didn't find any other interruptions. She tried the door, but it was locked-as she'd guessed it would be. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring with the purple seashell gem before putting it on her finger. It was too noticeable to wear around while in disguise, but too important not to keep close by.

"No need for me to knock, this door will unlock," Uma said, the ring glowing purple as she heard the lock click. She entered the room, closing the door behind her and making her way to the desk. Yesterday their teacher had told them there would be an important quiz today and after all of the problems she'd created for Ben she doubted he'd had time to study for it. But, just to be safe, she had to make sure he failed it. After finding Ben's test, she held her hands over it, the ring glowing as she began her spell. "His responsibilities and duties the prince will lament, since he'll score no more than ten percent." The ink from Ben's pen lifted from the page into the air before falling back down on the wrong answers. Uma heard her phone buzz and opened it to see a message.

 _"Mason": What's taking so long? Do you need help?_

 _Not at all. First step complete_. She replied.


	3. Chapter 3

**In The School Hallway**

For some reason Mal couldn't explain, she needed to get something from her locker. It was weird, but she just had the nagging feeling that she'd forgotten something despite not knowing what exactly it was she lost that kept getting worse and worse the closer she got to her locker. That nagging feeling stopped when she heard something fall behind her, followed by someone saying "no, no, no, no, no." She turned around and saw Mason rushing down a staircase to pick up a phone that had dropped all the way from the top. When he picked it up, he saw that it was completely broken, with shards of metal and glass on the ground where it fell. Mal was going to turn back in the direction of her locker, but she stopped when she saw Mason's eyes begin glowing gold.

"Having a broken phone isn't what I'd recommend, so it's time for this device to mend," Mason said. The phone and all its broken pieces rose into the air, combining together as it magically repaired itself. After it was completely fixed, it lowered back into Mason's hand.

Mal couldn't hide the gasp she released. "You're...you're a..."

Mason's head jerked to Mal and his eyes widened. He accidentally relaxed his hand and his phone fell back to the ground, the screen shattering again. "Oh, for the love of..." Mason said as he picked it up again.

"You're able to use magic?" Mal asked.

"No," Mason said with a completely straight face.

"I literally just saw you."

"Well...okay yes. Please don't tell anyone," Mason said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to the side of the hallway.

"Why? Can't a lot of the students here use magic, too?"

"You don't understand. Ever since Rumpelstiltskin almost took my brother, my mom and dad never really trusted magic users. Not even people like the fairy godmothers or Genie. So the magic ban is enforced a lot more...severely. Anyone that can use magic is kept under really close supervision and have a lot of restrictions placed on them and the way they can live their lives. If what I can do was ever common knowledge, I'd be...I'd never, ever have any sort of freedom again. I'd never, ever, ever become king and...my sister just can't handle all that pressure by herself. I don't think my parents would even be able to make an exception for me considering how it would look after they made enforcing the law such a big deal." He looked into Mal's eyes desperately as he pleaded, "Please, please don't tell anyone about this. Please."

"Don't worry, I won't," Mal said quickly. "I can kind of understand how you must feel and I promise I'd never do anything like that."

"Thank you," Mason said. "Thank you." He said again, seeming to not know how to adequately express how grateful he was. "Have you ever noticed," he started, "how much we always tell each other that we can 'understand' or 'relate to' or 'recognize' things about each other?"

"Now that you mention it, I guess we do have a lot in common," Mal said. "It's almost weird."

"I, personally, would've called it cool, but weird is okay. Sorry to get sappy, but it's nice to have someone to talk to that's...you know, not so..."

"Royal?"

"Yeah."

"I know what you mean."

"But, a word of advice." She tapped one of the golden cuffs that were on his wrists. "When you've worn ten different pairs of these, it might be a safer move to just replace the phone."

"I was going to, but I was about to win the last level of this game."

Mal chuckled.

"So, can we also keep the fact that I'm out after curfew secret, too?"

Mal pantomimed zipping her lips.

"Thanks. And, by the way, if you hear anything about the skeleton in Biology being replaced with one that dances...it totally wasn't me." When Mal just raised an eyebrow, he said, "What? That class is boring. If anything, I'm being a hero by giving everybody some entertainment."

She finally chuckled before saying, "My lips are sealed."

Mason waved before turning around. He suddenly stopped, turning around again. After whispering something, his phone-still broken on the ground during their entire conversation-repaired itself and flew into his hand. "One last time." He said with a wink before he turned and left.

Now that he was gone, Mal stood in the hallway. She started walking in the direction of her math class to get her...wait. She wasn't going to her math class. She was going...to her locker? Or was it the library?

* * *

 **A Few Minutes Later**

When Carver got to his dorm, Uma was sitting on the couch in the shared living area. She flipped her braids out of her face, the gold woven into them in Millie's form clinking with the motion, and asked, "Did she fall for it?"

"Yep," Carver said. "Your turn now."

* * *

 **The Next Day**

 _A...a...a Zero?_ Ben thought, his eyes widening as he saw the grade on his quiz.

"Congratulations, Your Highness." The teacher said as they handed out another quiz to Millie's desk. Since he was seated right next to her, he was able to see her score.

"You got a fifteen out of ten?" Ben asked, without thinking. When he realized that he was looking over he added, "Sorry to intrude. Never mind."

"No need to apologize, it's fine," Millie said. "I asked for a quiz with more difficult questions so that I could get extra credit."

"Really?"

"Yes. I wanted more of a...challenge, I guess. My schoolwork has been a little too easy lately."

"That's...quite remarkable."

"Well, I have to be wise if I'm going to rule Aurelia one day. You understand, right?" When Ben didn't reply, she asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I think I'm having trouble with the whole wisdom thing currently."

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't get the grade I would've liked. Actually, now that I think about it, is your tutoring offer still available?"

"Of course. That sounds fun."

"Really?"

"Yes, I love tutoring. Everyone has the potential to do amazing things and, with a little nurturing, it can be brought out. It's like gardening." Millie looked down, her braids clinking like bells. "Sorry, I must sound so pathetic right now."

"Not at all. I've never seen your passionate side before," Ben touched her hand. "It's quite remarkable."

"Thank you, your majesty," Millie said.

"Does tomorrow afternoon in the library sound like a good time to start?"

"Yes. See you there, Millie. And you can call me Ben if you want."

"See you there, Ben," Millie said as she stood up and grabbed her bag before walking away.


	4. Chapter 4

**I wasn't going to talk about this, but I saw a post somewhere where someone else also noticed it so I don't feel alone anymore. In the Good to be Bad video doesn't it seem like the posters and tv shows are propaganda for dictators? Like, it says "our liberator" and "friend to the friendless" and "BIG BROTHER." That's weird, and the premise of VK Day, and asking who your favorite VK is and Evie being the Royal Minister of Juvenile Whatever seems a little self-righteous to me, and your fate being in their hands. I know it's for safety and they want the 4 new VKs to be paired up with one of the original 4 so they can relate to them and keep an eye on them since so many of them could have evil impulses, but still any babies or toddlers on the Isle can be taken to Auradon. I had an idea for the villain in the next story after this and now I was kinda thinking of scrapping him and using someone from the Isle who sees all of this stuff with VK Day as self-righteous nonsense to feed Mal, Carlos, Jay and Evie's egos by making other VKs suck up to them to be admitted into their new territory. I mean it only makes me see things from the Isleanders (is that a new word?) perspective because the kids didn't do anything wrong but be born and after the population on the Isle doubled or tripled, there was still enough food being sent to them so Belle and Beast had to have known innocent children were being born and they just left them on the horrible prison [I get taking children from their parents would feel bad, but it would at least be for the kids' benefit (also they probably didn't do that because the people of Auradon probably wouldn't have adopted or even wanted children of villains living with them because of their own prejudice)] when their only crime was being born. The VKs don't belong on the Isle and at the rate of 4 VKs being freed per year, that's still too slow for hundreds of kids. It feels like the royals are the real villains (especially considering Mulan murdered the majority of the Hun army in her movie with the firework-avalanche and she's not on the Isle while Ursula is there for making legitimate deals and impersonation) and Belle and Beast just left this ticking bomb in Ben's lap. I kinda wanna make Wes and Uma team up and burn down and flood all of Auradon because they claim to be good, but they're just keeping their head in the sand about this whole situation. I hope Hades shows them how awful the Isle is so that they realize that they need to fix this. Anyway, 500-word rant over. Here's the chapter.**

* * *

 **In the Auradon Prep Library**

"No, it was the Treaty of the Sixty Kingdoms that united all of Auradon," Millie explained. "Your father signed it with rulers and representatives from all sixty kingdoms and territories."

"Right, right," Ben said as he wrote that down.

"And where was it signed?" Millie asked. It was hard for Uma not to feel superior, even if her knowledge of the subject had come from a speedreading spell.

"I know it was supposed to be Arendelle..." Ben said as he thought it through thoroughly, "but the waters were too choppy so they signed it in Corona, at the Royal Palace. In the Room of a Thousand Rays, more specifically."

"Brilliant." Millie beamed with a smile on her face. She reached for her binder and turned a page to the blue section. "Now we can go over science. If that's okay with you, Your Majesty?"

"Of course, let's-" Ben was interrupted by his phone ringing. He answered, saying, "yes...really?...already?...no, we can't do that...isn't there another way?...well, I suppose we'll just have to try to find something else to offer...goodbye."

"What's going on?" Millie asked, looking concerned.

"Nothing, really, it's just a matter of diplomacy."

"That sounds interesting."

"You'd be one of the first people I've met to think that," Ben said with a chuckle.

"Well, politics is a strong suit of mine. If there's anything I can do, I'd love to help."

"I'm not sure this can be helped. Um...well I suppose it won't stay a secret for too much longer at this rate. London and Scotland are disputing over a bit of land between them that's currently unowned. A few months ago the King and Prime Minister got into an argument, so...I think it's a bit of a battle of..."

"Egos?"

"One could say that, yes."

"But not the king, right?" Millie asked with a knowing look. "Because you can't seem judgemental."

"Right. See? It's not really something I think you can help with."

"Don't be so sure. What if the two of them could be convinced to split the territory?"

"Normally that would be my first thought, but this seems to be personal."

"Well, what if I were able to call the King of Scotland today and get him to change his mind."

"You can do that?"

"I'm going to be the queen of the wealthiest nation in the world one day. I have no doubt that he'd be willing to listen to me, and I'm very persuasive."

"If you can, that would be amazingly helpful. But that still leaves the problem of-"

"The Prime Minister? Well, if my memory serves me correctly, Aurelia sells London more than half of the food its citizens consume. So if, say, the princess of the kingdom was to call him and let him know she was thinking of doubling the prices when she's queen, I'm sure he'd be much more reasonable."

"You would really do that?"

"Well, I obviously wouldn't _double_ the prices, I don't want a whole nation to starve-"

"No, not that. Though I'm happy to hear I don't have to worry about anyone starving. I mean help with the two of them?"

"Of course. It's my duty to do anything I can to help Auradon. And its king."

"Well, thank you, Millie. This means a lot to me."

"It's my pleasure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have to end this study session a little early. I have a couple of phone calls to make."

* * *

 **That Night In Uma & Carver's Dorm**

"Wait, so explain how this works again," Uma said after she'd shed Millie's form.

"I'm gonna make the King and Prime Minister think they both gained seventeen acres of land," Carver said, "and then it'll fade from Ben's memory and theirs'. There was never any disputed territory at all. But Ben is still gonna remember feeling grateful toward you."

"Right, because gratitude is so valuable," Uma said sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

"Just be patient. All that we need is time."

Uma rolled her eyes once again.

Carver's eyes glowed gold for a second.

"What was that?"

"An opportunity," Carver said, before leaving the room without another word.

* * *

 **In Mal & Evie's Dorm**

"Okay, guys," Mal began when Carlos and Evie sat down on the couch in front of the television, "unfortunately Jay had a date scheduled with Lonnie tonight, so he won't be able to make it to movie night."

"On the bright side, we won't have to watch another bank heist movie tonight," Carlos said, earning a chuckle from the girls.

"True. So, what are we gonna start off with?" Mal asked. "We've got action, comedy, horror."

"Please don't put on a scary movie again. I vote for-" Evie started before her phone began ringing. She answered it and said, "Hey, Penny...oh yeah, the dress...don't you love it?...huh?...no, I didn't notice anything wrong with it...really?" She held the phone away from her so it wouldn't catch her sigh before saying, "Be right there," in a cheerful, chipper voice.

"Oh no," Mal said. "What's wrong?"

"I sewed a dress for Penelope and, apparently, the embroidery on the shoulders isn't symmetrical...it's off by a _quarter of a millimeter_." The last few words were dripping with loathing. "This is the third time this has happened with her."

" _Wow_ ," Mal said with a laugh. "Well her mom did notice a pea under, like, a billion mattresses. Maybe it runs in the family."

"Sorry, guys, I have to go deal with this," Evie said. "I'll try to be back soon."

"No problem, " Carlos and Mal said at the same time.

Evie grabbed her handbag and sewing tote, saying, "Sorry," again before she left the room.

"Alright, Carlos, looks like you get to choose what we watch first," Mal said as she grabbed the tv remote.

"Well, I think that-" Carlos was interrupted when his phone buzzed. He looked down at the message he just received. When he set his phone down, Mal could tell exactly what the message said by the look on his face.

"Carlos?" He wouldn't even look her in her eyes. "It's fine, you can go."

"Sorry," Carlos said before leaving.

Now that she was alone in the room, Mal decided to put the movies on hold and go for a walk. After leaving the room, she decided to go to the gardens. As she was about to turn right, she noticed Mason walking past with a stack of keep cases.

"Hey, Mal," Mason said with a nod of his head as he passed.

Mal quickened her pace a little to catch him and put a hand on his shoulder. "What are those?" She asked him.

"Just a few movies I planned on watching tonight," Mason said.

"You're joking, right?" Mal asked with a smile.

"Huh? No. Why?"

"I was supposed to watch some movies with my friends, but we had to cancel because they were busy."

"That sucks. If you want, you can watch these with me."

"Sure, that sounds fun. I've got everything set up in my dorm, snacks and everything."

"Nice." As Mal turned to go back to her room, she missed Mason's eyes flashing gold for a moment as he followed her. "But we have to watch a comedy movie."

"That's perfect," Mal said, turning her head to look at him, "comedy's my favorite."

"Mine, too." He said with a smirk.


	5. Chapter 5

**I got inspired and stayed up all night writing so here are two chapters this time.**

* * *

 **Mal's Perspective**

 **At Pots' Tea & Coffee**

Mal wasn't too surprised when she saw a royal limousine outside the coffee shop until she saw the blue and gold flag. They weren't an uncommon sight considering how many royal students, royal parents, and emissaries from other kingdoms were in the capital city at all times. But the indigo and gold colors of the flag were reserved for Ben's family. It would be unlikely that it was Belle or Beast since they'd been taking trips around all of the kingdoms of Auradon ever since Ben became king. But Ben had told Mal he'd be busy today. Her surprise only grew when she entered the coffee shop and saw Ben laughing with Amelia Miller.

Mal approached their table with a smile on her face. When they both turned to her, she asked, "Hi, what are you two up to?"

"We're studying," Ben said. When Mal raised an eyebrow, he looked down at the table and saw there weren't any books on it. He looked at Millie and chuckled before he said, "I guess we started talking and got sidetracked."

"Oh my goodness, I didn't even notice," Millie said. She reached for her bag in order to pull out her notebooks and index cards. "It looks like our king is a bad influence on me, I don't usually lose track of time."

"Oh, so now it's my fault?" Ben asked playfully.

"Well, I seem to remember this whole conversation being sparked by you complimenting my dress, which led to me talking about politics. So, technically, it is, indeed, your fault."

"Fine, I'll take the blame." Ben joked. He was beaming. "I always forget that your mind always goes straight to politics. I could ask you what your favorite type of coffee is and you'd probably go on about the tax laws on the beans."

"Possibly. I can't help the fact that I'm passionate about ruling-"

"Well, I'm gonna jet. You two seem pretty busy and I feel like I'm interrupting."

"Sorry," Millie said with a laugh. "I suppose we did the whole lost-track-of-everything-talking thing again. I feel so horrible about it, you must've felt like we forgot you even existed. So sorry."

Old Mal would've made her eyes turn green and claimed she knew a spell that could make the whole world forget _she_ existed. But New Mal took a deep breath and smiled as she said, "No worries."

"Are you sure that you don't want to sit with us for a while?" Ben asked.

"Positive," Mal replied. **(AN: Imagine her say that like she was saying, "Winterfell is yours, your grace")**

"Well, we haven't seen each other in a while. Do you want to take a walk in the gardens tonight?"

"No. I'll be _busy_ ," Mal said before walking away.

"That was odd," Millie remarked.

"I think I should go after her," Ben said, picking up his bag and beginning to rise from his chair. "Can we reschedu-"

Ben was stopped when Millie placed her hand on his and looked in his eyes. "Ben. I don't think that would be wise," she said. "I fear I might be overstepping, but I think you should give her some space. You probably know her better than me, but, as another girl, I think it's best to give her some time to cool off before you talk to her."

"Um..." Ben said, looking hesitant about staying.

"I apologize. I shouldn't have said anything, it's your decision."

"No, I think you're right. I should wait a little while." Ben said as he sat back down. "Let's continue the lesson."

"Of course," Millie said.

"Thank you, Millie. Not just for your advice now, but all your help in the past as well. You're a great friend." When he'd said "friend," he could've sworn he saw-just for a fraction of a second-a frown on her face. But it was gone so quickly he was sure he'd imagined it.

"Thank you so much, Your H-Ben, it's a pleasure to hear such kind words from you. I must admit that it's been quite easy, considering what a joy it is to be in your company."

"You know...I don't know why, but I just have the feeling that I can trust you. I've noticed that since I met you."

"I'm so glad that you've realized that you can put your complete faith in me, Ben," "Millie" said with a wide smile.

* * *

 **Mal's Perspective**

 **That Night at Auradon Prep**

Mal's ears were ringing. She wasn't just mad, she was disappointed and frustrated. A sensation like electricity running through her veins was getting stronger and stronger. That was why she was on her way to the school's Royal Wellness Center. She would go to the spa, the lazy river, the sauna, anywhere that would calm her down before she accidentally lost control and did...something bad. She felt someone grab her arm and her eyes shone green as she swung her head around to look at them. It was Mason.

"Hey," he said, greeting her with a smile. "Oh," he added when he saw her eyes.

"Sorry, I just-" She started, turning her head away and closing her eyes. She took a deep breath and her eyes stopped glowing.

"No need to explain," Mason said, a look of understanding on his face. "Come with me."

Mal looked to hesitate for a second before she remembered Mason's secret. Sometimes she forgot about that night in the hallway. She nodded and followed him.

* * *

 **Carver's Perspective**

 **Deep In the Forest Behind the School**

"Please tell me you're not bringing me all the way out here to kill me." Mal joked. Carver noticed that the joke was half-hearted. He put a hand on Mal's arm to signal that it was time to stop.

"Oh no, you've figured me out," Carver said. "No, I brought you out here because no one ever comes this far into the forest. It's practically the only place in the capital where there's any real privacy."

"Which we need for?" Mal asked with a raised eyebrow. "Mason, I understand flirtatious is your default emotion, but I'm really not in a good mood right now."

"I know," Carver could tell her mood without her even saying. Not just because of her crossed arms and the look on her face, but also because whenever she thought about him, the thought traveled to his own mind. She was hurt, disappointed, and, underneath it all, scared of her magic. That was why he brought her here. It was another opportunity. "I also know that when I get mad, my...gift gets a little hard to control and things start flying across the room. So, I brought you out here to let it out before it gets uncontrollable."

"Let what out?" Mal asked.

"Your anger. Scream at the top of your lungs, use a spell, hit something-preferably not me. Let out your anger before it lets itself out with your magic."

"I'm not sure...I just..." _I'm nervous_ , he heard her finish in her mind.

"I can go first if you're nervous," Carver said. He let out a loud scream. Then he screamed again even louder.

"You look like a maniac," Mal said with a laugh. A genuine one this time.

"Maybe," Carver replied with a shrug, "but I'm the calmest maniac you've ever seen."

Mal laughed again before deciding to give it a try. She screamed at the top of her lungs for twenty seconds straight. A green bolt of lightning flew from her hand straight into a tree, taking a large chunk of its bark and leaving the surrounding area charred. When she noticed what she'd done, Mal gasped and took a step back.

"Don't worry," Carver said. He waved a hand and said, "Negating what was done is something I can manage, make it as it was and undo this damage," causing the tree to return to the way it was before. "Do what you have to, I've got your back." He said with a reassuring smile.

Mal nodded and screamed again even louder. Another blast of lightning flew from her hands, but Carver undid all the damage they caused. Then he closed his eyes for a second to conceal how they glowed gold. She'd realized he was right. It felt like her screams were letting out all the frustration she'd been keeping bottled up for the past year. She screamed again, unaware of the wave of electricity that split an entire row of trees in half before Carver restored their condition. He decided to take another peek in her mind to see how much longer this would last since he was starting to feel lightheaded from all the spellcasting. His eyes glowed gold again. Now her voice felt raw, but her mind was a little clearer. He turned around for a second so she couldn't see his eyes glow even brighter as he focused. Her sensations became his and it was like he was a passenger in her body. Anger wasn't at the forefront of her mind anymore, and the feeling of electric power was no longer running through her veins.

"Are you feeling better now?" Carver asked her when he jumped back out of her mind, turning around.

"Yeah." She said, her voice already a little raspy. "A lot better."

"See? I'm not a maniac."

"That's debatable."

His laughter was genuine. He found that he was acting a lot less around her recently. "Possibly."

"Thank you, Mason. I needed this. To come out here and just scream."

"Well, this is the best place to go if you need privacy, and"-he didn't hide it when he made his eyes glow this time-"when you're...gifted, that can be a lot of the time. If you ever want to, you can come out here to do some, as you might call it, maniacal screaming."

"How gracious. Do you offer every girl you meet an invitation to go screaming in the middle of the woods?"

"You're a girl?" Carver asked, widening his eyes. He smirked as he added, "I hadn't noticed."

"You sure you don't wanna take that back?" Mal asked with a wicked grin. "I was literally shooting lightning out of my hands less than a minute ago."

"Whoa, no need to zap anyone," he said, raising his hands. "I'm only joking. And, no, nobody else has ever been here as far as I know. But maybe I should bring a girl here on a date. Hmm. You're a girl." He said with a smile. When he didn't see a reaction his smile faded. "I'm only joking, you know. This is usually the part where you glare at me and then I tell another joke and you try not to laugh."

"Well, maybe it's time for a change. What if I say yes?"

"To?"

"A date. As friends, of course."

"Seriously? As friends? Is that even still a date?"

"Well, why not?" She shrugged.

"Uh. Sure, then. How's Tiana's Place, Friday?"

"Sounds good."

"When should I pick you up?"

"I'm pretty sure I can get there on my own."

"That would take a while, especially without magic."

"What do you mean? Are we going to the cafe at the school, the diner, or the one farther into town?"

Mason just smiled enigmatically and said, "Just be ready around 7. It's a surprise."


	6. Chapter 6

**Uma & Carver's Room**

"I can't believe it," Uma said, looking up from a magazine at him as a pen, glowing gold, finished up her homework on the table in front of her. "Something interesting actually happened before it was supposed to in your whole 9-Month Plan."

"I'm a little surprised, too. How do I look?" He smoothed his sleeveless shirt and straightened the gold cuffs on his arms, these ones with ornate depictions of straw turning to strings of gold.

"Great, amazing, princely," she said, not even bothering to hide the fact that she wasn't even paying attention to him now that she'd turned back to her magazine. "Can you turn me back to myself now?"

"Do you think that's really wise? I won't be able to turn you back to Millie if anyone shows up here."

"I know. But I figured it was worth a try asking, considering I wanna go to sleep early tonight. Do you _know_ how hard it is to sleep when your hair keeps tinkling like bells every time you move? Hm." She tilted her head to the side. "Maybe her family makes her wear the gold. Millie's super quiet, so maybe she wears it so they know when she's around. Like putting a bell on a cat."

Carver chuckled a little, despite saying, "That's extremely mean."

"I know," Uma said with a smile.

Carver's phone dinged. "Time for me to go. See you tomorrow morning."

"Bye," Uma said, still looking down at her magazine. After he closed the door to the dorm room behind him, she grinned, turning the page on her magazine finally to reveal the page she'd scribbled a bunch of spells onto. "And while Carver's away, I'm gonna play."

* * *

 **Mal & Evie's Room**

"You _so_ cannot do this," Evie said to Mal, giving her a disapproving look for the hundredth time.

"It's not a big deal. We're just going to Tiana's. As friends." Mal said, running a brush through her hair.

"Do you get dressed up and have dinner late at night with Jay and Carlos? With _lip gloss_?"

"First, 7 isn't late. Second, I got used to wearing it now. And third, once again, it's _not_ a big deal."

"And when Ben finds out about this?" Evie pressed.

"Well, it's nothing for him to worry about. I'm just hanging out with a friend. He's free to do it, so why shouldn't I be?"

"Mal-" Evie was interrupted by a knock on the door. She rolled her eyes and approached the door. For some reason, after all the times her mother had schooled her into thinking that it was unbecoming for a lady greet a "gentleman caller" before a date herself, she couldn't help opening the door for her friend.

"Hey," Mason said with a smile. "It's a pleasure to see you."

"Thank you," Evie said, stepping aside to let Mal pass her.

"Wow," Mason said, unaware of the slight glare Evie sent his way when he said it. "Excuse me, where are my manners." Mason bowed as he said, "You are as radiant as a sunrise, as fair as the snow-capped mountains of Arendalle, and as breathtaking as..." While he was speaking, for the first time, he seemed like a prince, from his voice and expression to his posture. But then he paused, breaking out into a smirk as he finished, in his regular tone, " _a punch in the stomach_." Even Evie chuckled at that.

"Really?" Mal laughed.

"Sorry, I probably should've thought of something beforehand. But a punch in the stomach _is_ pretty breathtaking."

"Thanks."

"Shall we go?" Mason said, extending his arm out to Mal. After she took it, he turned to Evie. "I swear I'll bring her back her before sunrise tomorrow."

"What a gentleman," Evie said, struggling to stay chilly. Then she realized what he'd said. "Wait, sunrise?"

"That's part of a little bit of a surprise I have in store."

"Oh," Evie said, turning her gaze back to Mal. "Enjoy your not-date."

"Thanks, Eve," Mal said sweetly. "See you soon."

* * *

 **A Little While Later**

After being escorted downstairs to a car, with a chauffeur waiting to open the door for them, Mal and Mason sat and talked for a while.

"So what's the deal with this whole surprise? You can't be serious about being gone until tomorrow morning. Even if we could eat that much, the restaurant would probably run out of food."

"You'll see," Mason said with a grin.

"Come on, don't make me bring out the lightning," Mal joked.

"Fine. I'll tell you. Look out your window."

Mal looked out of her window and saw that they were passing Tiana's Place. "Wait, where are we going?"

"I'm kidnapping you and I'm going to torture you with bad jokes for the rest of your life." Mason teased. When Mal rolled her eyes, he conceded, "Kidding. I said we could go to Tiana's Place. But I didn't say we were going to one in the capital. I'm taking you to the only one worth going to."

"Is this a prank? We're not seriously going to New Orleans are we?"

"Only the best for a girl as breathtaking as a punch in the stomach."

"You can't be serious, this is...crazy."

"We can be there and back in just a few hours depending on how we get there. And, trust me it's so worth the travel. Have you ever been?"

"To New Orleans, yes, but not to the first Tiana's. There was never any time."

"Well, it's gonna be fun. And it's about to be a weekend, so you don't have to worry about school. If there's any homework you have, I'll help you with it when we get back. And you can sleep on the way there if you need to. Come on, let's be spontaneous."

"I don't know." Mal still looked unsure.

"Well," Mason said with a grin, "we can turn around and go to the diner, or back to the school if you want." He was still wearing a grin wider than the Cheshire cat's, "But, then, you wouldn't be able to try the special strawberry beignets I asked Queen Tiana to make for you."

That's when Mal's whole demeanor changed. "Huh?"

"I'd asked her to work on the recipe a few weeks ago since it could be a good birthday gift one day, but I figured tonight would be the perfect occasion. And there's also gonna be strawberry tarts, strawberry cake, a whole desert list a mile long. A crate of the best strawberries in the world was rushed from Aurelia this morning. I think they were just plucked yesterday. And don't get me started on the world-famous gumbo. But we can go back." Mason reached for the button to roll down the partition. Before he could touch it, Mal grabbed his wrist.

"Don't you dare. We're going."

"Are you sure?" He asked with a smug grin. "It's not a problem to go back."

Mal gripped his wrist tight enough for him to feel it through his cuffs.

Mason laughed. "Wow, so glad to know that you can't be persuaded by a fun time with me, but food'll do the job."

"Well, you should've led with the beignets from the beginning."

"So, now it's time for you to make a decision. How do you wanna get there? I didn't know if you had a thing with heights or seasickness, so I got all three MOTs ready."

"MOTs?"

"Modes of transportation. We can take a jet, speedboat, or I can drive us."

"No thing with heights, so jet. You didn't have to do all this, though."

"It's worth it to spend time with someone that's fun to be around. And this is gonna be amazing."

"Oh, definitely. Now let's get to Tiana's."

"You heard the lady, driver," Mason said dramatically. "Onward, to the strawberries."


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm so sorry that this took so long. I just didn't know what to do. Even though the next 2 or 3 chapters, I know what needs to happen I'm not sure about the sequel to this. I want that to be a cool finale, but it's hard to decide what to do. Do I free Wes and have him do something sinister (Maybe with his aunt's daughter Eva)? Do I have Wes try to get free and accidentally let Maleficent loose in a botched deal? I originally wanted to have them go back in time and switch the parents** **of the core 4 VKs** **into their kids' bodies and** **I had a bunch of funny lines from Cruella ready because I think she's the evilest of all of them** **. But then it would only be 3 chapters long because the parents are competent. And then I thought of maybe having a new team of VKs get loose using a version of the device Carlos used in the first novel, then I was thinking of having someone be magically possessed but that was the premise of the 3rd movie (and I definitely can't top the Queen of Mean as a villain, that was the best performance so far to me). Do I just give up? Maybe I should, but no. I'll have to keep thinking.**

* * *

 **In New Orleans**

"That...was...that was the best meal I've ever had," Mal said after the table was cleared. Tiana's Place was cleared out when they got there. As they were led to the candlelit table set on the balcony before a window that overlooked the French Quarter, Mason explained that he'd had the restaurant kept open through the night. And when the food finally came out, it was magnificent. From the starting soups, to the gumbo and garlic bread, to the desserts. Oh, the desserts. Strawberry beignets, shortcake, cheesecake, charlottes, meringue cookies, brownies (or "pinkies" as Mason called them). And so many more. Mal would've been sick of the taste of strawberries by the third confection, but the flavor profile of each dessert was so unique.

"Well, you don't tell me that," Mason said, his gaze falling behind her as he rose from his chair. "Tell her."

Mal turned around and saw Queen Tiana approaching her from the kitchen. She took a second to marvel at how, even in her uniform, she could look so regal, wearing her toque like a crown, before she rose as well. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace."

"The pleasure's mine, too," Queen Tiana said. "Now what was it Mason wanted you to tell me?"

"That that was the best meal I've ever had in my life," Mal said. "I mean, wow. I wish I could get food like this in Auradon."

Tiana beamed and placed a box Mal hadn't noticed she'd been holding on the table. "Thank you so much. This is for you. Box of desserts for the road, as requested by Mason." When she saw the look on Mal's face she chuckled. "I miss this. Spending time in the kitchen, puttin' in the love and seein' it pay off. The way people just fall in love with what you make for 'em."

"You don't cook in the restaurant usually?" Mal asked.

"Not usually. Now, it's running all the restaurants, helping run Maldovia and spending time with Tia and Nadia. But, times like this, I get a chance to get back to it."

"Thank you, Your Grace, for this delicious meal," Mason said. "And for taking the time tonight."

"You're very welcome." She said before inclining her head towards the box she'd put on the table and saying, "Enjoy."

"Thank you," Mal said. And then Tiana was gone, headed back into the kitchen.

"So, you've got another choice to make," Mason said.

"Huh? What choice?" Mal asked.

"I have one last surprise. We could be boring and fly back to school. Orrrrr..."

"Or?"

"We can do something exciting and _fly_ back to school."

"Huh?"

"Well, we could fly back on the jet. Or I can send it away and we could fly back another way."

That was when Mal started to get what he was hinting at. "You told me you couldn't have anyone else ever find out you had magic," she whispered.

"Well I've flown before without being seen. I'll just use a spell to teleport my car back to the school so it looks like we drove back. But we can use a spell to fly back. From here to Auradon we could fly over the hills and meadows in France, the grass fields in Scotland, catch a glimpse of the Great Wall, maybe even see part of the desert between Pride Rock and Agrabah."

"I don't know. I think if I'm late, Evie might strangle me."

"It's alright, I swear we'll be back in time. Trust me."

"Alright, then. Let's fly." Mal agreed, following Mason out of the restaurant door. She was so excited to be able to literally fly across the sky that she didn't even notice that Winter White had been watching them.

* * *

 **Uma's Perspective**

Uma was sitting before her bathtub.

 _"Think I'll let Mal embarrass me again? Well you've been misinformed_

 _Just wait till I hit her with a wave and a raging storm"_

The water in the tub shook as a miniature cloud formed above the tub. Heavy rain began to fall as a miniature wave rose above Uma's head before falling down with so much force that the water shattered the tub, sending water and shards of marble flying all over the room. Before Uma could even begin a spell to protect herself, water surrounded her, protecting her from the shrapnel. After the shield fell, she looked in the mirror with a grin plastered on her face. She spun the purple ring on her finger around appreciatively before using a spell to undo all the damage that she did to the room.

* * *

 **The Next Day (Audrey's Perspective)**

Audrey was in the school's garden enjoying the sun with Jazz, daughter of Jasmine, Tia, daughter of Tiana, Mehlani, daughter of Moana, Eliza, daughter of Elsa, Mary, daughter of Merida, and Aria, daughter of Ariel when Winter White came rushing to her.

"Audrey, I have something important to tell you," Winter said, slightly out of breath.

"What's going on, you know this is my destressing time," Audrey said, taking off her sunglasses.

"I was in New Orleans last night and I saw Mal-" she started.

"Oh my godmothers," Audrey exclaimed, "why is everyone always acting like she's some kind of celebrity. So what? You saw her! Yay for you."

"No, it's not that," Winter said quickly, her face turning as red as her lips. "I saw her with some guy. That rich one that's always wearing the gold jewelry. They were having this candlelit dinner-it was super romantic."

"Huh?" Audrey asked, her face perking up. "Why didn't you lead with that?"

"I tried to, but-"

Audrey pretended she didn't hear that and went on, "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier."

"It's okay," Winter said.

"Audrey," Mary said. "If you told Ben about this, you might be able to get him to feel insecure enough to break up with Mal. Then you can take him back."

"Then you might not be so moody all the time," Jazz said under her breath.

"Heard that. Harsh." Audrey said with a glare aimed at Jazz. "And I, _so_ , am not worried about Ben anymore. Snow White's magazine listed me as the number one princess that every girl wants to be for four years straight-"

"Until Evie came along." Jazz said under her breath again.

"She is, technically, not a princess so I think the title is still mine!" Audrey exclaimed. She took a breath and composed herself before finishing, "And, as I was saying, if Ben doesn't realize he had the best girl in the world, that's _his_ loss, not mine. And I'm happy with Ch-" She trailed off when she saw Ben strolling through the courtyard. "But I do think that Ben deserves to know what happened last night. And, as a friend, I should be the one to break the news. BRB." Audrey said before standing up and crossing the garden.

"Audrey," Ben said when he noticed her. He smiled and said, "Nice to see you."

"You too. I just came to ask if you would answer a question for me and the girls. I might want to go on a trip this weekend with them and we might stop in New Orleans. How was it last night? Was it super hot and humid?"

"Huh?" Ben asked. "I haven't been there in months."

"Stop joking, I need your help," Audrey said with a giggle.

"I'm not joking," Ben said with a confused look. "Why do you think I was in New Orleans?"

"Oh!" Audrey said, pretending to be shocked and embarrassed. "It wasn't you! Sorry, I'll just search for the weather report online." She turned to go and almost smiled when Ben grabbed her arm lightly.

"What wasn't me?" Ben asked.

"It's so not my place to tell you, and I don't want to cause any drama," Audrey said.

"Audrey, please tell me what's going on."

"It's just...one of my friends saw Mal having this special, romantic dinner with a guy at Tiana's so I assumed it was you."

"That has to be a mistake. Maybe it was someone else?"

"With purple hair and green eyes? Wait...you didn't know?"

"Uh. I'm sure it's no big deal. Thank you for telling me."

"No problem. Sorry. I'll go." Audrey said, turning around and returning to her seat with her friends. When she saw Ben was gone she said, "Let's see what little miss VK has to say about this."


	8. Chapter 8

**At the Enchanted Lake**

Ben finally found Mal at the enchanted lake. When he got closer to her, he saw that she was laughing and speaking. He'd seen she was alone when he was at the top of one of the surrounding hills and didn't notice until he was even closer that she was on her phone.

"No, Mason, I deserved that A in Manners & Mathematics, no magic involved..." There was a pause before she added with a chuckle, "I _do_ have manners."

Ben cleared his throat and Mal turned to him. Ben gave her a small wave and she waved back.

"Can I call you back in a sec?" Mal asked. "Thank you, my day isn't going as horrible now. Later." She said before hanging up. "Hey, stranger." She said to Ben with a smile.

"Stranger?" Ben asked, looking a little hurt.

"It's a joke." Mal clarified reassuringly. "Although I haven't seen you in four days."

"We spoke on the phone," Ben said. "And texted."

"Yeah, but seeing you in person is better," Mal said as she approached him.

"Agreed," Ben said, grabbing Mal's hands now that she had gotten closer. "What were you saying about having a horrible day?"

"Ugh. Don't get me started." Mal said with a grimace. "I woke up on cloud nine and was dragged kicking and screaming back to earth in third period."

"What happened?"

"An annoying teacher. Manners & Mathematics."

That made Ben grin. "I remember you saying she stopped being so 'annoying' and started being ridiculously nice to you, but..."

"Yeah, yeah. I said that the fact that I was dating the king was no reason to treat me so differently. But now..." She sighed. "I wish I didn't say anything to her and let her keep bringing pies to me in class."

"Want me to tell her to start doing that again?" Ben asked jokingly. "I could have it typed up on royal letterhead with a seal and everything, even send a bunch of emissaries to deliver it to her during school."

That got a laugh out of Mal. "Imagine the look on her face. But, no. I got through classes with Cruella back in elementary, I can handle strict teachers."

"Of course you can. And, at least, you woke up feeling happy. What was so great?"

"Just a good weekend, that's all," Mal said dismissively.

"That's nice. What was so good?" Ben asked, trying to see if he could prove to himself that Audrey was probably misinformed.

"Nothing. I just spent some time with a friend."

"Evie? Did you go to Chad's party?"

"Evie is permanently banned after she accidentally burned off his precious eyebrows. He even hired a bouncer and hung up her picture. Why're you so interested in my weekend?" Mal asked, her instincts causing good ole Isle suspicion to kick in.

"Nothing, it's just this crazy thing. Audrey's friend thought she saw you having some kind of romantic dinner in New Orleans over the weekend. Funny, right?"

"Yeah, that's crazy," Ben felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. Only to come back when she said, "it wasn't even romantic."

"So, you did have dinner with a guy late last night."

"Yeah, but it's nothing serious. It was only late because it took so long to fly to New Orleans, and we just ate and talked. It was fun."

"Oh," Ben said, not intending for it to sound so bitter.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You're not mad, are you?"

"It's just that...wouldn't you be a little upset if I had dinner with a girl without telling you?"

"Dinner? I don't know. Coffee dates? I could see that." Mal said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I don't want to do this today. My day was already bad enough."

"I want to know," Ben said. "What did you mean by 'coffee dates'?"

"Just that you've done the exact same thing."

"You mean my study sessions with Amelia? That's completely different. I'm just trying to catch up on my schoolwork."

"And you go to restaurants where you laugh and chat with another girl. But if I do the exact same thing, it's a problem?"

"It...it's not a problem. I just...you didn't tell me."

"And why should it matter? Do I demand to know when...nevermind," Mal took a deep breath and let go of Ben's hands. The electric feeling was coming back and she was fighting to keep her eyes from glowing. If Ben saw her so close to losing control, she wouldn't be able to keep him from worrying. "I so do not wanna argue today."

"But we have to discuss this, Mal. We can't just ignore this, we have to work through it together."

"I love you, and I love how you always want to be all diplomatic. But there is plenty of time to work through this another day," Mal said, backing away toward the stairs that would lead up to the forest. Maybe she could go to that clearing and let out the lightning that felt like it was crackling in her veins.

"Mal, my mom always told me you shouldn't walk away from someone you love holding negative feelings," Ben said, approaching her. "You remember what happened the last time we got into an argument without resolving it."

"Really?" Mal exclaimed with a roll of her eyes. "I promise I'm not going to run back to the Isle this time."

"What I meant is that-" Ben started, instantly regretting the comment.

"Ben!" Mal yelled "Not today!" Now the electric feeling was so bad that she didn't even notice the face that appeared in the water behind Ben.

* * *

 **Uma's Perspective (Which I imagine being in Hawkmoth's tower)**

"Hmm," Uma said, gazing into her tub. Somehow, Carver thought that she just had a habit of taking long baths. The scene she was watching in the water showed Ben and Mal's fight. And she just got the most diabolical idea. The nautilus ring glowed as she said,

 _"See this little fairy princess with all her anger,_

 _she doesn't even know her precious prince is in danger_

 _See her fury like the churning oceans,_

 _unleash her powers through her emotions"_

* * *

 **Back to Ben and Mal**

In a second, the electric feeling in her blood doubled. It was so bad that she was dimly aware of her hair starting to crackle with electricity. "I just had a really bad day! And the second it got a little better, you came asking about something that doesn't even matter!" Without Mal's knowledge, a wave of force made Ben stumble back. "Because it doesn't matter when you spend time with other girls, does it?" Mal yelled, unwittingly causing another wave of force to nearly knock Ben off of his feet. "And the only reason that hurts is because you claim to be busy almost every day I ask to spend time with you, but you're free enough to 'lose track of time' with her!" A single tear fell down Mal's eye and another, powerful wave of force.

Ben was knocked backward through the air so fast Mal hadn't fully comprehended what had happened until she heard the splash as he fell into the enchanted lake.

"Ben!" Mal called, running to the water. She wanted badly to dive in for him, but, unlike Evie, she'd never had the time to take swimming lessons. The electric feeling had subsided slightly, from the shock or the use of magic she didn't know. Then it dawned on her. She had the power to cast spells. She could bring him to her. _Bring him to me...me...what rhymes with me?_ It took a second or two before she said,

 _"I've always been better with lightning or fire than the sea_

 _But, please, water, bring Ben to me"_

It all happened as she imagined it would. The water shifted, a giant bubble forming around Ben that rose into the air before hovering over to the floor of the gazebo. The bubble slowly lowered to the ground, leaving Ben to stumble to his feet, coughing up water, before it popped, sending water showering everywhere. That part was a little less controlled than she imagined.

"Ben, are you alright?" Mal asked. He paused his coughing and looked up at her. _His eyes look so green today_ , she thought when she got close to him. When he quickly covered his eyes, she chastised herself for having such a stupid, stupid thought at this moment. Until she realized that his eyes didn't look especially green. They were reflecting green light. And he was covering them like he had been looking at the sun. She put a hand in front of her eyes and saw a green glow on them. Her eyes were still glowing. Brighter than usual, in fact. They were lit up like lighthouses. And the electric feeling was coming back. "Ben?" She asked, backing away from him, back to the stairs of the gazebo to put a safe distance between them.

"I'm fine," Ben said, coughing a little before his voice turned a little less raspy. "What happened? What was that?"

"I'm so sorry," Mal said. "I'm so, so sorry." The electric feeling got worse. It was like her blood had turned into a thunderstorm, lightning ready to strike at any moment. "I didn't mean to." She had to get away from him. To go somewhere she couldn't hurt anyone else. "Beware forswear, bring me from here to there," Mal said, disappearing in a cloud of smoke crackling with green electricity.


	9. Chapter 9

**In the Screaming Clearing**

The first place Mal had thought of was the place Mason had taken her to go screaming. But when she appeared there and saw him, her heart dropped.

"I was expecting a call back, but this is even better," Mason said with a smile as he exited the game he was playing on his phone and turned toward her. "What are you doing poofing around?"

Mal turned around and ran.

"Was it something I said?" Mason called after her. Now, he was thoroughly stumped. At least until he noticed the thought that jumped from her mind to his. _I can't be trusted right now_. That piqued his interest. His eyes glowed gold as he scanned around him for Mal's mind. It was hard to do when he didn't know an exact location thanks to the fact that he couldn't write off the chance that she'd got tired of running and teleported away. He searched for angry minds and tuned in on one that had a thought mentioning Ben.

 _Why would he want her_? A voice thought. _I was everything a king could ask for. I'm pretty, sweet, I get along with his friends, I'm_ rich _, I'm a princess, I did everything my grandmother told me. I even started cheering so I could be there on the field with him during his games. What's so special about Mal? I'm so tired of pretending. Where's my happy ending. I followed..._

That only furthered Carver's confusion until he realized it wasn't Mal lamenting about Millie, as he thought. It was someone else. He searched around, finding another mind. This one was full of remorse, horrified by a lapse in control of her magic. That was right. He peered into Mal's mind and saw everything. It had only been a few minutes, but, apparently, she'd sent the king flying into the lake.

Now, there was a decision to be made. Try to console Mal? Or go back to Uma to plan out how to press this opportunity? It was a hard decision that made him so mad at himself. _It's not important how she feels unless it helps with the plan_ , he told himself, _there are too many people to help_. He shouldn't have even considered the former course of action, he decided. He said,

 _"Moving from one place to the next is an easy switch,_

 _take me to the daughter of the sea witch"_

He was surrounded with golden light as he disappeared.

* * *

 **In Uma and Carver's Room**

Uma had just finished putting on a shower cap and robe when she heard the knock on the bathroom door. _Of course the mind-reader already knows_. She strode to the door and opened it, "You are _so_ lucky I'm already done with my soak," She lied when she saw Carver at the door in Mason's form. "What's going on?"

"So, it's...actually I'll just..." Carver's eyes glowed gold and Uma received what she could only describe as a mind e-mail. A memory that wasn't hers was placed at the edge of her mind and she somehow opened it by just thinking about it. It didn't show her anything that was news to her, but she still had to put on a look of enjoyment to keep Carver from knowing her part in the incident."She threw him in the lake!" She laughed. "For real?"

"Yes." Carver gave her a moment to get her laughs out before saying, "So the question is: what's the best thing we can do while this is going on?"

Uma had to pretend she hadn't already planned for this by thinking for a second. "How about you make some gossip think they saw the whole argument while they were on a stroll, then spread it around the whole school. Then you turn me into Millie in the morning and I bring Ben flowers and tell him I heard about the accident."

"Halfway genius, but bring food instead. And bringing flowers in Auradon means you're in love, someone's dead, or he's in the hospital. They wouldn't mean what you think. But everyone likes food on any occasion." Carver said.

"Fine, food. What kind would be fitting for one of you royals?"

"For the thousandth time, I'm not a royal. And a cake would be fine. His favorite is-" his eyes glowed gold a second "-carrot. If we spell one up, you can act like you made it from scratch and you can say you can just tell that he's a carrot type of person because he's so nice and blah, blah, blah."

"'Millie' is so perfect even I hate her. I deserve an award for this acting."

"Sorry, but when we're done, you'll just have to settle with being a queen-"

"Already am one," Uma said with a smirk as she crossed her arms and leaned against the door, "but I don't mind it being on paper."

"And I will give Mal some time to deal with everyone staring at her and whispering behind her back that she assaulted the king. I'll make sure the rumors escalate to saying that he can't even walk anymore. Then, I'll swoop in and take her on a magical tour of Auradon to get away from everything."

"Sounds like a plan," Uma said. "Now turn me into Millie so I can get ready for tomorrow."

"As you wish," Carver said,

 _"It's smoke and mirrors, a trick of the light, a delusion,_

 _that surrounds Uma in a perfect illusion."_

Gold light surrounded Uma as she got taller and her already long braids grew even longer. Her cheekbones rose and her eyes narrowed as the light faded.

"Let's do this," Uma said, even her voice sounding lighter and softer.

"Aye aye, captain," Carver said with a salute.


	10. Chapter 10

**Ben's Perspective**

"Come in," Ben called when he heard the knock at his door, setting down his mug of coffee. He was reading over some documents before heading down to class, but when he saw Millie enter the room, he rose. He regretted the action when he felt the soreness all over the front of his body worsen from getting up so fast.

"Good morning, your majesty," Millie called as she walked in with a cake carrier between her arms.

"Millie!" Ben exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, me," Millie said with a chuckle. When Ben just continued staring in surprise, she asked, "Is something the matter?"

"No, not at all," he said half-heartedly. "What's that you're carrying?"

"A cake. It...I heard you weren't well, but you look about as chipper as a kipper."

"Thank you. Wait, you heard I was unwell?" Ben asked. "Where from?"

"Nothing. It must have just been a little rumor, I wouldn't pay attention to it. But, I suppose, I'll still give you the cake." She set the carrier down on the table and smiled. "I have a special talent for guessing what kind of cake is a person's favorite. I just _knew_ you must love carrot. Am I correct?"

"Yes," Ben said, his eyes slightly widening. "You really only guessed?"

"Of course. Well, it's a little more than that. People with kind eyes usually like carrot, I've found."

"Thank you." Ben eyed the cake gleefully before his face gloomed. "Um," he started, "I'm very sorry to say this, Millie, but I have to put an end to our study sessions."

Millie's eyes scowled? No. No, they widened. Ben must have imagined the hateful look that cast over her face for half a second. "May I ask why?" She asked pleasantly.

"I just...can't be tutored by you anymore. I'm sorry."

"Well, no worries." Millie's tone was even more pleasant than before. "I'll see you around, your majesty. Goodbye." She turned and strode gracefully towards the door. She sent a smile over her shoulder before leaving the room. When the door was closed, Ben sighed and picked his coffee mug back up. He went to take a sip while he looked at the cake sitting on the table, but the coffee spilled all over his front. He was sure he'd been holding it upright, but it's like the liquid developed a mind of its own for a second. He held in a scream as it scalded him. He had been sure that it was barely above room temperature-the way he preferred it-but now it was near-boiling.

 _How odd_. Ben thought.

* * *

 **Mal's Perspective**

Mal liked to think that she was pretty used to attention. She literally grew up with a spotlight on her on the Isle thanks to being Maleficent's daughter. Then, she got used to the wary looks that followed her when she first came to Auradon. Then, it was the starstruck and sometimes jealous looks that came with her dating Ben. But today, things were a little different. She was only a few hours into the school day, but so far she knew something was off. Everyone went out of their way not to meet her eyes or be caught staring at her. She'd rounded a corner earlier after hearing someone mention her name and, when the two people that were talking noticed her, they literally fled at a near-run. Even one of her teachers had trouble making eye contact with her when she answered one of his questions. All of this had her feeling a little on edge. That was why she jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand tap her shoulder. She turned around and saw Mason.

"I'm here to collect your soul," Mason said in a deep, raspy voice as he made his eyes roll to the back of his head and put on a creepy expression. All smiles and laughs, as usual. "Come on, I know that was funny," Mason added when she didn't react. "Why're you so jumpy, what's wrong?"

"Other than the fact that everyone's been staring at me?" Mal asked.

"Oh. Did something happen?" Mason asked.

"What do you mean?" Mal asked worriedly.

"Nothing," Mason said, now avoiding eye contact.

"What is it, Mason? You have to tell me before I go insane."

"Well, I heard from Ginny, who heard from Jazz, who heard from Raf, who heard from either Winter or Hurrit that Pinch said he saw you magically turn Ben's head upside down and throw him around the forbidden forest. Naturally, I assumed it was worth taking seriously," he said sarcastically. "Though, if you ever do decide to commit treason like that, you can count on me to give you the perfect plan to run from the law," He finished with a chuckle. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed how wide her eyes had gotten. Mal's heart had sunk into her chest as she realized why everyone was acting like they were scared of her.

"Oh no," Mal finally breathed.

"This isn't true, is it?" Mason asked incredulously. When Mal didn't respond, he said, "Well, don't worry, this is all gonna blow over. I'm sure that, in a few days, they'll all be talking about something different." When she still didn't respond, he added. "I could go do a horrible breakdance during class so that everyone has something else to talk about. Or we could ditch if you don't wanna deal with school today."

"Thank you for trying to make me feel better, but I think I just need to be alone right now." Mal put on her best poker face as she said, "I'll be fine."

"Sure," Mason called when she walked away without another word.

* * *

 **Later that Day in Uma & Carver's Room**

The sound of clattering dishes made Carver a little nervous when he approached his door. It sounded like a tornado was hurling around thousands of breakable objects. After doing a sweep with his mind and determining only Uma was in the room, he opened the door cautiously. On the other side, he found Uma holding a sword in one hand and a porcelain cup in the other. She was surrounded with shards of glass and shattered china and she'd kicked off the heels she usually wore when she walked around as Millie. She tossed the cup in the air and struck it with her sword before it could fall to the ground, sending pieces of what used to be Carver's favorite coffee mug all over the room. One of the shards would've cut her leg, but her ring glowed and it bounced right off of her. When she noticed Carver, she put the sword down...by shoving the blade into an end table so it embedded itself into the mahogany.

"Tell me you had some kind of luck." It sounded less like an inquiry and more like an order.

"I'd be lying," Carver said with a sigh. "You?"

She looked at Carver like he was an idiot then gestured to the shrapnel all over the room. "Does it look like I'm celebrating?! No, your stupid plan didn't work. I'm starting to feel like I should go to plan B."

"Which is?" Carver asked apprehensively.

"Teleport some piranhas into Ben and Mal's bathwater, kidnap Jane and demand the wand from Fairy Godmother, then break the barrier down. I could've had it done already if I wasn't stupid enough to believe someone from Auradon could come up with a halfway-decent scheme. There have been no results. You just have us running around trying to break up Ben and Mal like we're villains in some cheap soap opera. Do you not know who I am?"

Carver backed a step away as thoughts jumped from Uma's mind to his. She was definitely upset. No. More like enraged.

"I'm the Queen of the Isle. And you've got me acting like some dainty little princess. I've had it! For someone that can read minds, you are a horrible matchmaker. He rejected Millie. Your plan failed. We've got-what?-two weeks until Federation Day. What are we supposed to do? Do you even want the barrier broken down? Because it feels like you've been trying to play me." She picked up her sword and took a step closer to him. "And _no one_ plays me! Do you understand?!" She took a step closer.

Carver raised his hands in concession. "I understand your frustrations. It's my fault, I assumed this would be easier. But you _have_ to realize that we have to keep Mal away from Ben if this plan is gonna work. She'd notice something is up if she's too close to him."

"I don't care about your shipwreck of a plan!" Uma yelled, taking another step closer.

Carver noticed he was now within reach of her sword, but didn't back away. He gave her a calming look and lowered his hands. He continued assuringly, "I'm sorry it's taking so long. But if we just take the barrier down, it'll be chaos. I just know it. You have to know how many people from the Isle are resentful... _rightfully_ resentful. It sounds horrible and unfair spending a lifetime there. But letting them free so suddenly would start a war and lead to everyone you freed just getting thrown back on the Isle, or worse. The Auradon Exchange Program would end forever. All the VKs would be sent back to their parents. But if we can get someone with a crown to broker a treaty...if you can use the influence you've gained-no, earned-from being such a powerful and respected figure on the Isle...it would be a different story. We can peacefully unite Auradon _and_ the Isle. We have to be patient if we want that peace to be lasting."

"And how do you know that, genius?" Uma asked. She was still seething, but her thoughts had calmed slightly. Carver saw, though, that she was losing what little trust in him she had. So, he decided to give her a bit of truth he'd been keeping from her.

"You know how my powers revolve around minds?" He asked, making sure to seem reluctant to share this.

"Yeah?" Uma said impatiently.

"Well, I can also see the future kind of. I have these dreams and...I know this'll work. It has to work. Otherwise..." He reached out with his mind, offering Uma a memory of his. The premonition that drove him to contact her in the first place. He could feel Uma's mind viewing the memory and noticed her emotions and worries calm.

"Whoah." She said, suddenly speechless for a moment. Then she glared at him. "You've got one more chance from me. There are only two weeks to get this done. You'll hit fast forward on this plan, or I'll hit Auradon with the worst storm its ever seen on Federation Day. Capiche?"

"Yes. Thank you for your cooperation. You won't regret this, it'll work." Carver said.

"I'm going for a swim," Uma said before using a spell that made her disappear in a swirl of water droplets.

Carver sighed and collapsed to the ground. He was relieved that Uma had calmed down and went with the plan, but not surprised at how easily flattery worked. But now there was one issue: how to get this "shipwreck of a plan" back on track. Ben and Mal had rejected Millie and Mason thoroughly, so how could he change their minds? After a half hour of hard thinking with no good ideas coming to mind, he decided to sleep on it. He made his way back to his room, but stopped in front of his door when he noticed an odd squeaking sound. He followed it to Uma's door and opened it, thinking it might be a problem with her ceiling fan. When he entered the room and noticed the ceiling fan was off, his heart dropped.

 _Please don't be a rat, please don't be a rat, please don't be a rat._ He thought. One of the many things that kept him from feeling he fit in in Auradon was his fear of everything that walked on more than two legs. He ran to retrieve a broom and returned to Uma's room. He followed the sound near her vanity and checked the floor around it for a solid minute before he noticed that the sound was coming from her jewelry box. He assumed she might've been keeping some weird creature in there for some magic potion she'd learned from her mom until a thought smacked him in the face. He had never experienced a thought being forced into his brain before, but the words _open the box_ appeared all over his vision like he was seeing stars.

Against his better judgment, Carver opened the box and gasped.


	11. Chapter 11

**Carver's Perspective**

The witch whose trial he saw on TV a year or two ago. The one who did a soul-swapping spell on half of the students in Auradon Prep. Wes was staring up at him. Except, he was now only seven inches tall. And a cat that was barely an inch tall was curled up into a ball beside him.

"How did you get here?" Carver asked.

Wes's lips started moving, but all Carver could hear was that horrible squeaking sound from earlier.

Carver was confused at first. But then he realized that Wes's voice was proportionate to the size of his body, causing him to make those mouse-like squeaking sounds. Carver put a hand over his mouth, trying to hold himself back from laughing, but he eventually let out a chuckle. He composed himself and said, "I'm sorry, but that's kinda funny."

Wes continued to make that squeaking sound from before.

"Fine," Carver said. He focused for a second and his eyes started to glow gold, " _I'm sure making that sound must hurt is pride, so this witch's voice will be amplified_."

Wes glowed gold for a moment before he tried to speak again. "So you're the amateur working with Uma?"

"Uh," Carver croaked, slightly taken aback. "Rude. I was expecting a thank you."

"You're right. Singling you out specifically _was_ unnecessarily rude. I suppose you're both equally unskilled if that makes you feel any better."

That made an idea pop into Carver's head. "What makes you call us unskilled?"

"The fact that you guys are...unskilled maybe."

"Once again, rude."

"And untrained," Wes added.

"Okay," Carver said, briefly considering undoing the spell that amplified the witch's voice. But he smiled charmingly and said, "But...well, this is Auradon," Carver said, deciding to prod him for the answer he wanted. "It's not like they teach us to use magic. What did you learn in your school?"

"Hmm," Wes said, cocking his head to the side. He was silent for a moment as his tiny green eyes seemed to survey every part of Carver's face. "Let me guess. Do you want my help with something?"

"Maybe."

"Well, I'll _maybe_ help. Or I maybe won't."

"I understand if you don't. It's a big ask and I'd understand if you don't know how to do what we need." Carver challenged.

"There's nothing that I don't know how to do," Wes bragged. "Wait...does Uma know about this?"

"About what?" Carver asked coyly.

"You opening pandora's box," Wes said with a slight cackle. "Get it? I'm in a box."

"Yes, I got it." Carver was mindful to keep his poker face on as he said, "Uma doesn't know quite yet."

"Well, how about a deal? Information for information. You tell me today's date, then I answer the question I know you're clearly dying to ask."

"What? Why do you need to know the date?" Carver asked, wondering how that could possibly be useful information.

"Curiosity. We don't need to eat, drink, or sleep while we're in this jewelry box and light doesn't get in here. It's hard to keep track of the days since we can't even use meals as a measurement."

That made Carver suspicious. His eyes glowed gold as he tried to peer into Wes's thoughts. But when he reached out for the witch's mind, he found what seemed like a wall of fire protecting it. He tried to peer past it, but Carver physically recoiled as he got a headache that felt like his entire brain was singed.

"Remember how you asked what I learned in my school? One of our lessons taught us how to guard ourselves against psychics peering around in our heads. Did that hurt?" Wes taunted. Carver's eyes were still screwed shut in pain. "Come on, that was only a mental exercise. Imagine what it would be like if I actually used a spell."

 _Explains why I never noticed his brain before._ Carver thought. "Alright. It's January. Third." Now Carver took a second to think. "Any chance you know how to cast a love spell that can't be broken by true love's kiss or enchanted lake water?"

"Really?" Wes asked with an amused grin. "That desperate to find a girlfriend?"

"Do you know or not?" Carver asked, still massaging his temples.

"Of course I do."

"Really?" Carver asked, keeping his cool on the outside despite how fast his heart started beating.

"Yes. And, if you ask nicely, I might be willing to tell you. Well, on the condition that you also do something for me."

"I'm not letting you out of here," Carver said with finality.

"Yeah, I assumed you wouldn't. So, other than my freedom, what do you have to offer?"

Carver considered it for a moment before an idea struck him. "I can't free you, but I can give you a better prison. How about a dollhouse? One with a courtyard and space to walk around? I could shrink down some TVs, give you some books, even get you a car if you want one."

Wes sighed. "A dollhouse? Living in a dollhouse? This is officially the most degrading conversation ever. Also, how do I know you'll even follow through with your side of the deal?"

"Excuse me. Shouldn't I be asking you that? I'm not the one that almost killed, like, thirty people."

"Hmm. How about a little Unbreakable Vow Spell, then? Then you'll know I'm telling the truth. And I can trust that you'll actually deliver on this deal."

"What's an Unbreakable Vow Spell?"

"It forces two people to abide by whatever agreement they make together. If they try to work around the deal...eh...the consequences are pretty wicked..." While he went on, Carver decided to try to sneak a peek into Wes's mind while he was distracted. Instead of just reaching into the witch's mind, he kind of tiptoed his own along the wall of fire he'd encountered earlier. Since Wes wasn't as focused as before, the wall wasn't burning as intensely. He closed his eyes to hide their building glow from Wes as he reached out with snakelike quickness so that he could see if Wes was lying about the spell. To his surprise, he found that Wes wasn't lying about either the Unbreakable Vow spell or the Love Spell. All of this had happened in only a few seconds, so by the time Carver opened his eyes, Wes was none the wiser. "All you have to do is strike a deal and both say, 'if this vow's sacrality is ignored, I do not deserve its wondrous reward.' But you'll have to pick up the magical slack since I'm all ringless. Think you can handle that?"

"Fine."

"Really?" Wes asked, slightly surprised that was all it took to get him to agree.

"I skimmed your mind a little. You kinda let your guard down when you get all imperious, which I'd bet happens pretty often when you're talking to other people."

"Only the idiotic kind. Now, just do the spell. Provided you fulfill the terms of granting me better accommodations, I will tell you how to cast the perfect love spell. If this vow's sacrality is ignored, I do not deserve its wondrous reward."

"And I promise to fulfill my side of that agreement if you fulfill yours. If this vow's sacrality is ignored, I do not deserve its wondrous reward," Carver's eyes glowed gold and two golden bands of light appeared at both his and Wes's wrists. Before Carver got a chance to give his a good look, he had to grip onto the vanity to avoid falling down from the vanity chair.

"Really? I could've done that spell in kindergarten with no problem. How does something that basic wear any decent witch out?"

"I'm not a witch. Or fairy. Or dragon. My biology is completely human. I'm a mage."

"How tragic for you," Was smiled. "Must be like being born as a tiger with no teeth and claws. Having your genetics completely fail you-"

"Just give me the spell!" Carver snapped, glaring at Wes. Or at least he thought he was glaring at Wes. The fatigue he was feeling had caused him to see double, so he was actually staring an inch or two to Wes's left.

"Well, mage, you might wanna write this all down cause it's kinda complicated. Especially for a rookie."

"No need. I can access my own memories with my powers to go back into this moment and replay it."

"That's an interesting gift. I have a similar thing-not magical, biological-where I never forget a thing. It's helpful when you're...a witch-or person who casts spells. So many things to memorize, details to consider, circumstances to sort out. Tell you what. If you break the spells the keep my friend Viv all shrunken and everything and then look the other way while she ambushes Uma and gets my ring back, I'll let you be my apprentice. I'm kinda the greatest witch to come out of the Isle and...I could teach you to do some truly wicked things with magic."

"Um...I don't mean any offense by this, but you're trapped and living in my...associate's jewelry box, so..." Carver smiled as he finished, "I think I'll stick with the lady that did this to you if you don't mind."

"Hehehehhheeeehehheeehaaaaahaaaahaaahaa." Wes cackled. "Funny. Thanks to that attempt at comedy, things are about to get a little difficult for you. So let me put what I learned in my Cryptic Prophecies and Vague Occult Assistance class to work."

"What does that mean?" Carver asked.

Wes laughed before he began speaking almost too fast for Carver to comprehend the words,

"To make a love spell strong requires a practice long dated  
Nature's power, a magic archaic  
Collect salt or at low tide a beach's sand  
Collect it in a turtle's shell and use a hand  
to create with it a pentagram  
A star and circle hand in hand  
For love that burns strong and brings thine's victim glee  
Use Fire's gift of ash from a wisteria tree  
Place it in fire's sacred space  
South is the direction it must face  
To make this spell last as time unfolds  
Evoke the power of two lumps of gold  
Place it in Earth's sacred space  
North is the direction it must face  
To keep thine's target clear and thy magic unmottled  
In fulgurite thou and thy target's breath shall be bottled  
Place it in air's sacred space  
East is the direction it must face  
To make thou's love pure and eternal  
Find nevermelting ice and chip off one kernel  
Place it in water's sacred space  
Only one direction left, so I'm sure you can guess  
When that has been done do not linger  
Take a bone needle and prick thine little finger  
And with that offering to the Spirit  
Shout "ammeeoure leaukri vok tu gielih" for all the world to hear it  
But remember, mage, this power comes from your time and the lands  
So all components must be previously untouched by human or magic's hands"

Carver's eyes glowed gold as he replayed the memory of Wes reciting what seemed to be a poem, only realizing after replaying it three times that he was actually giving instructions...in rhyme. "What does all that even mean?"

"You're sticking with the lady that did this to me, remember?" Wes asked with glee. "Maybe she can help you figure that out."

"We had a deal. An 'unbreakable vow'. You have to tell me. Didn't you say there'd be consequences if one of us didn't?"

"Actually, I already did. I agreed to, and I quote, 'tell you how to cast the perfect love spell,' and that's what I did. You have the information and it's not my fault if you can't figure out how to do it properly. Now, you have to fulfill your side of the bargain. Unless you _want_ your own spell to turn against you."

"What do you mean?" Carver asked.

Wes was wearing an arrogant grin as he stared up at Carver and held up his wrist, displaying the golden bands from Carver's spell, "Remember these? It's hard to be sure, cause magic is so unpredictable, but...there's going to be a consequence if you don't do what you agreed to. If I don't get that mini mansion you promised, you won't receive the 'wondrous reward' you were promised because of our deal. I'd bet that all memory of the spell I gave you would disappear from your mind."

Carver's eyes widened. "You...you-"

"You could whine about the fact that I outsmarted you-as I tend to do with people-or you can man up and figure out how to cast the spell. I'm guessing you need it for something, right?"

 _Can't disagree with that._ Carver thought.

"I'll even let you know something important. There's a full moon on the seventh. Even with all the power in my ring and her shell, Uma could use its power. Especially since you're not gonna be much help."

Carver looked up at the clock and saw the time was midnight. "Well, now it's the fourth. That only gives us a few days."

"Might wanna hurry. And, before you go, you might wanna give me that house you promised. And I want a pool. Unless you want to forget-"

"I get it!" Carver snapped. " _This witch is much too rude and sneaky, so make his voice go back to being squeaky_."

Wes glowed and when he tried to speak, his voice sounded mouse-like again. Carver got up from his chair and left his dorm room, wondering where he could go at midnight to find a dollhouse.

* * *

 **In the Jewelry Box**

Vivianne rose onto her legs, still in cat form. She purred as she began pacing around. Uma had spelled the box to be a prison. One spell trapped Vivianne in cat form. Another made magic fail to work, which Wes found out when he attempted to use the fragments of his ring embedded in Vivianne's collar to cast a spell. While closed, time didn't seem to pass in the jewelry box fast enough for Wes and Vivianne to need meals and sleep. It had felt like it had been no more than thirty minutes in the box. But outside, it had been months. _At least there won't be much of a wait then,_ Wes thought. Vivianne bumped her tail against his leg as she continued pacing. He couldn't see her since there was no light in their prison, but they'd developed a form of non-verbal communication back on the Isle when he had to hide her from his mom. The second time he felt her tail hit his leg, he could tell what it meant. She was impatient.

"Don't worry, Viv," Wes said. "I have a feeling we'll be out of here very soon." He bent down and held his arms out. Vivianne, who could see in the dark, jumped into his arms. "Don't you just love how gullible people from Auradon are," he said with a smile.

Vivianne purred and bumped him with her tail again.

"Yes. You can be the one to bring Uma to me." Wes scratched her behind the ear and sat down. In only a few minutes' time, Vivianne's collar began to glow. Wes cackled and touched the amulet. "Let's get you ready to bring me my ring, girl.


End file.
